By:
Jim Tanner
(
Contact)
No one ever accused Willie White of being bashful about his ability
to make things happen on the basketball court and turn a good team into
something great.
Even before the talented guard from Memphis arrived in Chattanooga
in 1980, he told his future teammates and anyone else who would listen
that the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga would win four straight
Southern Conference basketball titles with him on the team.
“I told them, ?When I come here, we're going to win four
championships,'” White said in a phone interview Monday. “And they all
looked at me and started laughing. ... And I said, ?Yeah, I'm going to
win four.'”
Nobody was laughing four years ? and three consecutive SoCon titles
? later. The only thing that kept White from backing up his boast of
four championships was a 111-107 double-overtime loss to Marshall in
the 1984 SoCon tournament final.
“Willie had an amazing four-year career. He started all 122 games in
four years,” his old UTC coach, Murray Arnold, said by phone this week.
“His record I believe was 98-24 in his four years of playing. ... If
you just look at the numbers during his four years, they were kind of
awesome.”
White has been selected as one of the top five Mocs to have played
in McKenzie Arena. They were elected by a 13-member panel of local
media and UTC staff who have followed Mocs basketball for the past 25
years. The five will be honored Saturday at UTC's game against Wofford.
White passed up a chance to play professional baseball to come to
UTC and play for Arnold, and his presence had an immediate impact.
The Mocs went from a 13-14 record in the 1979-80 season to a 21-9
mark in 1980-81 and UTC's first trip to the NCAA Division I tournament
in White's freshman season.
White's bravado was not limited to off-the-court prognostication.
Former UTC public-address announcer and English professor Dr. Thomas
Ware recalled that White's confidence was on full display during the
Mocs' 1982 game against North Carolina, which featured Michael Jordan
and other future NBA stars.
“Every time (White) scored, he would stand in front of the UNC bench
and give (Tar Heels coach) Dean Smith a look,” Ware recalled Monday.
“He wanted him to know that he could play.”
That North Carolina game, which UTC wound up losing 73-66, came
during the Mocs' first season in the UTC Arena, now known as McKenzie
Arena. White, who played his first two years for UTC in Maclellan Gym,
said the new building opened possibilities for the Mocs to get more
exposure and better competition.
“It was something big,” White recalled. “More people could see us on display while we were playing.”
“Once we got that arena, we played some better competition. ... As
the arena came, you know, more schools came here to play ? bigger and
better schools.”
White remains the top scorer in the Mocs' Division I era, with 1,972
points in his career. His quickness and smooth shooting touch drew the
attention of pro scouts and made him a second-round draft pick by the
NBA's Denver Nuggets, beginning a 10-year pro career in the NBA and
Europe.
Former UTC coach Mack McCarthy, who came to Chattanooga after
White's career, said the teams and great players from the early 1980s
set a standard of excellence that he and other UTC coaches and players
have been measured against.
“Clearly Gerald (Wilkins) and Willie were the top of the chart,”
said McCarthy, now the head coach at East Carolina University. “Willie,
with the 3-point shot, who knows what kind of reputation he would have
had.”
Willie White
Height: 6-3
Weight: 195
Position: Guard
Hometown: Memphis, TN
High School: Carver High School
Major: Physical Education
| YEAR | G
| PTS
| AVG
|
| 1980-81 | 30 | 353 | 11.8 |
| 1981-82 | 31 | 491 | 15.8 |
| 1982-83 | 30 | 553 | 18.4 |
| 1983-84 | 31 | 575 | 18 |
Career Records: (Division I Era)
First All-Time in Points Scored: 1,972
Eighth All-Time Scoring Average: 16.2
First All-Time in Field Goals Made: 797
First All-Time in FG Attempts: 1,566
Second All-Time in Free Throws Made: 320
Second All-Time in Free Throw Attempts: 385
Third All-Time in Free Throw Percent: 0.831
Eighth All-Time in Rebounds: 499
Eighth All-Time in Assists: 291
Second All-Time in Steals: 197
Second All-Time in Games Played: 122
Single Season Records:
Fifth All-Time in Points Scored: 575 in 1983-84
Sixth All-Time in Scoring Average: 18.5 in 1983-84
Second All-Time in Field Goals Made: 227 in 1982-83
Fifth All-Time in FG Attempts: 443 in 1983-84
Eighth All-Time in Free Throws Made: 124 in 1983-84
Ninth All Time in Free Throw Percentage: .867 in 1983-84
Tied for Seventh All-Time in Steals: 60 in 1983-84
Career Highlights
SoCon Player of the Year 1981-82
SoCon Tournament Outstanding Player 1983
Chattanooga Times All-Time Team 1997
SoCon All-Tournament Team 1982, 1983, 1984
